A Maths and Science academy in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape has received a major boost after welcoming four Cuban Maths and Science specialists.
The JJ Serfontein Centre started operating last year.
There has been improvement in Maths and Science results in the province, with the Maths pass rate improving from a dismal 37% to 42.3% while Science improved from 49% to 57.3% last year.
The Cuban specialists are in the province for a period of five years.
This at a time when the average of learners who pass Maths is below 50%. The average for Science is close to 60%.
The arrival of these specialists will see them impart knowledge to teachers of these subjects.
Education Head of Department, Themba Kojana says they want significant improvements.
“We have decided to have an institute for Maths, Science and Technology. Then in that institute we want to have experts to reside there so that we can anchor our support to schools and teachers, so that it could be within the system that we see that we have strengthened maths teaching as well as participation in Maths, Science and Technology in the Eastern Cape.”
Cuban science specialist, Yadileydi Hernande-Collot says they are committed in improving the results of these subjects.
“What we are checking out is the rearrangement of the content, because sometimes I think Physics and Chemistry together the contents are not properly arranged. There are things that must be done before getting to other contents and we want to propose a rearrangement according to the teachings and needs, and we are sure that getting to this strategy and working hard the Eastern Cape will have good results.”
NGO focusing on education issues, Equal Education has welcomed this.
“As Equal Education we welcome any intervention that seeks to improve the overall performance on Maths and Science in the province – but with any intervention there should be strong evaluation and monitoring to make sure there are these desired outcomes especially if there are a lot of resources poured into it,” says the deputy head of the NGO in the province Amanda Rinquest
Language barriers won’t hinder the success of this programme as the Cuban specialists have been trained to communicate efficiently.
The programme is set to be in full-swing by the first week of February.
